President Trump scolded Iran for causing an environmental disaster in a message wishing the people of the country a happy spring as they celebrate the Persian New Year called Nowruz.
After wishing the millions of people who mark the beginning of spring with a “beautiful and blessed Nowruz,” Trump launched into a repudiation of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, citing an “ecological crisis” it caused through the mismanagement of its dam system.
The Corps’ “corruption and mismanagement have exacerbated the effects of an ongoing drought and created an ecological crisis,” Trump said in a statement Monday evening.
“Unregulated dam construction by its companies like Khatam al-Anbia has dried rivers and lakes and helped create unprecedented dust storms that threaten Iranians’ jobs and lives,” Trump said.
Environmental groups are quick to point out that climate change has cut rainfall in the country, forcing the government’s Energy Ministry to scrap 50 planned hydro-electric dam projects.
Dam building in the Islamic Republic has resulted in increased desertification and loss of habitat for species, according to reports from the Guardian.
But Trump appears to be cribbing his information from U.S. government-backed news agencies such as Radio Farda, which some green groups also cite. Farda transmits in Farsi, the language spoken in the Islamic Republic.
A Farda report last fall said unprecedented dam building that started after the 1979 revolution has resulted in “environmental crises.”
Trump made the comments on the eve of his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a top critic of Iran and a proponent of maintaining stiff sanctions on the regime.
Senior officials in the Trump administration said Monday that the president plans to assure Salman that he backs a plan to deal with Iran’s disruptive activities in the Persian Gulf region.
Trump in his Nowruz statement said he directed the Department of Treasury on Monday to issue a guidance “reaffirming America’s support for the free flow of information to the citizens of Iran.” He also pledged to continue “holding the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and the Iranian regime accountable for conducting cyber-attacks abroad and for suppressing Iranian citizens who are protesting the oppression of their government at home.”
